MOSCOW -- the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications has signed an agreement with Gilat Satcom Ltd., Israel to jointly offer the new Intersputnik-Gital-ISPeed service (ISPeed service), which provides full-scale access to the Internet backbone via satellite based on the use of Intersputnik’s state-of-the-art space segment and Gilat Satcom’s advanced Internet and VSAT services.This new service is primarily intended for corporate users and Internet providers appearing on the Internet market, as well as those providers that have already been offering such services but are not satisfied with their quality and want to considerably increase the traffic-carrying capacity as compared with their existing facilities.The ISPeed service is a two-way digital satellite channel with average data rate services ranging from 64 kbps to 45 Mbps and offering any proportion between the incoming and outgoing traffic. Connection is provided via fiber optic cable to the leading U.S. Internet backbone, AT&T.This solution uses the modern LMI-1 geostationary satellite, which was procured by the Lockheed Martin Intersputnik joint venture and launched in September 1999 to its orbital position of 75o East. LMI-1 features excellent station-keeping accuracy and a guaranteed lifetime of 15 years, providing unique coverage of Russia, the CIS, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The ISPeed service will be provided in C-band through the LMI-1 spacecraft’s A and B beams.“Geostationary communications satellites play an extraordinary important role whenever access to the Internet is required,” Intersputnik’s Director General Gennady Kudryavtsev said. “The wide service areas and high power parameters of modern satellites, as well as a simple and fast procedure of installing and connecting user equipment, make it possible to offer access to global information resources even in those regions where a ground telecommunications infrastructure is not available.” IntersputnikGilat Satcom Ltd.